School board workshop focuses on finances

Published: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, February 4, 2013 at 7:38 p.m.

MILLS RIVER — The basics surrounding revenues and expenses for the county’s largest employer, the Henderson County Public Schools system, was a highlight of a school board workshop this weekend.

“This is an overview from about 10,000 feet,” quipped Finance Director Kerry Shannon.

She spoke to board members, administrative office staffers and several school principals Saturday during the second day of workshops held at Mills River Academy, the school system’s training facility located next door to Mills River Elementary.

The district employs 2,097 people with a student enrollment of 13,481 for the 2012-13 academic year. The school district has a total budget of $115 million for the current school year.

The school system receives revenue from three primary funding sources: county, state and federal governments. Revenues for fiscal year 2012-13 show $21.2 million from Henderson County, $72 million from the state, and the remainder comprised of federal funds along with a combination of contributions/donations, investments and individual school revenues from things such as athletic fees and club membership fees.

Money that HCPS received from the state actually amounted to $77 million before reversion took place, which left the local school system with $72 million in funding from Raleigh, the finance director said. Due to the state’s own monetary woes, for the past several years the school system has had to return a portion of its state allotment so the state can balance its budget, a practice known as reversion, Shannon explained.

“As an example, say the state gives you $5 then says you have to give back $1 within 10 days,” she said. “We understand it’s plugging a hole in the state budget — we would prefer they just reduce our allotment instead of playing this little game.”

The biggest chunk of the budget expenditures (83 percent) is for employee salaries and benefits. All state employees, including teachers, got a raise this year of 1.2 percent and retirement costs increased as well, from 13.12 percent to 14.23 percent, Shannon said.

Other government funding is spent on systemwide support services, which include administrative/clerical personnel, custodial staff and bus drivers.

Shannon said the school district is required to send money out of its county funds on a per-pupil basis to public charter schools. This school year, 250 students from Henderson County are attending charter schools all over the region, including at The Mountain Community School, Henderson County’s only public charter school.

“We are now paying eight different charter schools — $400,000 out of our county money is being paid (to charter schools) through us,” Shannon said.

Capital expenditures are also part of the school system’s total budget, which includes money spent for the maintenance of buildings and grounds, reconstruction or repair of old buildings, and the acquisition of equipment with a lifetime greater than a year, such as computers, buses and vehicles.

County commissioners provided $500,000 for capital expenditures when they approved funding for the school system last year.

Each school system in North Carolina receives proceeds from the state’s education lottery, with a certain percentage of the lottery money going toward education and a percentage funding scholarships, Shannon said. For the past several years, all of the lottery proceeds received by HCPS has gone toward the school system’s debt service.

In June, school board members approved a North Carolina Education Lottery application of $281,632 to pay debt service on the 2008 installment financing contract for the Hillandale and Mills River school projects.

The finance director also explained the school district’s timeline for addressing budget issues. HCPS officials focus on examining needs that can be met through local funds in the spring as they prepare a budget request for county commissioners.

Putting together needs that can be paid for with state funding is done in the fall, when each of North Carolina’s 115 school systems learn how much money they are getting from Raleigh once the state’s budget has bee passed.

<p>MILLS RIVER — The basics surrounding revenues and expenses for the county's largest employer, the Henderson County Public Schools system, was a highlight of a school board workshop this weekend.</p><p>“This is an overview from about 10,000 feet,” quipped Finance Director Kerry Shannon. </p><p>She spoke to board members, administrative office staffers and several school principals Saturday during the second day of workshops held at Mills River Academy, the school system's training facility located next door to Mills River Elementary.</p><p>The district employs 2,097 people with a student enrollment of 13,481 for the 2012-13 academic year. The school district has a total budget of $115 million for the current school year.</p><p>The school system receives revenue from three primary funding sources: county, state and federal governments. Revenues for fiscal year 2012-13 show $21.2 million from Henderson County, $72 million from the state, and the remainder comprised of federal funds along with a combination of contributions/donations, investments and individual school revenues from things such as athletic fees and club membership fees.</p><p>Money that HCPS received from the state actually amounted to $77 million before reversion took place, which left the local school system with $72 million in funding from Raleigh, the finance director said. Due to the state's own monetary woes, for the past several years the school system has had to return a portion of its state allotment so the state can balance its budget, a practice known as reversion, Shannon explained.</p><p>“As an example, say the state gives you $5 then says you have to give back $1 within 10 days,” she said. “We understand it's plugging a hole in the state budget — we would prefer they just reduce our allotment instead of playing this little game.” </p><p>The biggest chunk of the budget expenditures (83 percent) is for employee salaries and benefits. All state employees, including teachers, got a raise this year of 1.2 percent and retirement costs increased as well, from 13.12 percent to 14.23 percent, Shannon said.</p><p>Other government funding is spent on systemwide support services, which include administrative/clerical personnel, custodial staff and bus drivers.</p><p>Shannon said the school district is required to send money out of its county funds on a per-pupil basis to public charter schools. This school year, 250 students from Henderson County are attending charter schools all over the region, including at The Mountain Community School, Henderson County's only public charter school. </p><p>“We are now paying eight different charter schools — $400,000 out of our county money is being paid (to charter schools) through us,” Shannon said. </p><p>Capital expenditures are also part of the school system's total budget, which includes money spent for the maintenance of buildings and grounds, reconstruction or repair of old buildings, and the acquisition of equipment with a lifetime greater than a year, such as computers, buses and vehicles. </p><p>County commissioners provided $500,000 for capital expenditures when they approved funding for the school system last year. </p><p>Each school system in North Carolina receives proceeds from the state's education lottery, with a certain percentage of the lottery money going toward education and a percentage funding scholarships, Shannon said. For the past several years, all of the lottery proceeds received by HCPS has gone toward the school system's debt service. </p><p>In June, school board members approved a North Carolina Education Lottery application of $281,632 to pay debt service on the 2008 installment financing contract for the Hillandale and Mills River school projects.</p><p>The finance director also explained the school district's timeline for addressing budget issues. HCPS officials focus on examining needs that can be met through local funds in the spring as they prepare a budget request for county commissioners. </p><p>Putting together needs that can be paid for with state funding is done in the fall, when each of North Carolina's 115 school systems learn how much money they are getting from Raleigh once the state's budget has bee passed. </p><p>Reach Kelley at 828-694-7871 or leigh.kelley@blueridgenow.com.</p>